Care-driven informality: The case of community transport

Nation-wide cuts to bus subsidies have led to reduced service in rural communities in the UK, leaving those who do not have access to a car – most of whom are older, have a disability, or have a low income – with few other options to meet their travel needs. This has resulted in greater demand on community transport, small-scale, local, and community-based transport schemes that are run by the not-for-profit sector and are primarily volunteer-run. Drawing on 28 interviews conducted with volunteers and staff from community transport schemes across Oxfordshire, this paper describes the provision of community transport schemes at the intersection of informal transport and an ethics of care. This sector is posited as informal, however; unlike many informal transport schemes, community transport is non-entrepreneurial. Instead, these schemes emerge from the community and are care-driven. Volunteers who run these schemes all provide skilled labour that is a practice of caring about, caring for, or care giving. This framing highlights the undervaluing of community transport. Indeed, the labour and schemes are underfunded and lack recognition. This study therefore emphasises the socio-political nature of community transport and shows the importance of supporting caring transport services. It concludes by discussing how this undervalued sector might be re-valorised so that it can continue to support those with few other transport options.